Golf club carrier



April 15, 1947. Q SPQHRER 2,419,175

GOLF CLUB CARRIER Filed July 7, 1944 Patented Apr. 15,l 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GOLF CLUB CARRIER Gregory J. Spohrer, East Orange, N. J.

Application July 7, 1944,. SeralNo. 543,842

(Cl. G-1.5)

3v Claims.

Thisinvention. relates to golfclub carriers and, more particularly to a carrier in which the clubs themselves form the outside or outer Walls of the. device. The present-day carriers are mostly inV theA nature of' bags made of leather, fabric or similar material and the clubs are hidden from view except for the heads. The player must therefore selecthis club without seeing the entire club. In the present-day bag the shafts of clubs are normally loose Within the bag and are subject to. considerable clflangy and rubbing. This injures the., leathers. and, in. the case of metal clubs which; are in general use today, has a tendency'to mar the. shafts.

Another objection. to the present-day golf bag rests in. the fact that it will not normally stand upright: andin the. further fact that` it is heavy and.l cumbersome to handle.

When clubs are used in Wet Weather and left inthe. bag there is; a tendency to mar the nish of the shafts and also a tendency forV the leathers tomildew or gather mold.

In my improved construction the shafts are always open to the air and will dry out quickly.

An object of the-invention is to provide a carrier in.. whichl the clubs themselves form the walls of the carrier and in which the clubs are at all times in full view.. This isparticularly desirable in match play. Where1 the audience is interested in watching which club the player elects.`

A further object is to provide a carrier: in which the clubs may be attractively displayed.

My new carrier consists: of threey sections. rig

idly spaced bya pair' of uprights and can be mader of; any suitable material. Its weight is much less than that of a heavy bag and itscost would like- Wise be less. Its structurer is such that' all of the clubs are fixed in their place and there is no danger of them banging together or breaking. My device= is adapted to4 stand upright or to. be placed. upon the groundlengthwise.

It. will be noted that. the top plate and the base( are. so constructed that When laidk length-y Wise on the ground the clubs do. not. touch the ground.

Otherobjects and advantages will be apparentfrom the accompanying description7 and draw; mg.

Figura 1A is: a side view of the golf clubcarrier herein claimed;

Eig. 2. is. a vertical section; on the `line 22 of Fig. 1 ofsaid golf clubcarrier;

F153 is a. sectional plan view,y partly broken away.. of the topand middle club holdinglmem-- 2` bers. of saidV golf cluby carrier on line;l 3--3y of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isa sectional plan view of the bottom clubholding member on line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig... 5 is a` bottom View of the gearedl arms Which comprise, when swung apart, the stand of said golf club carrier;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of another preferredform of the middle club4 holding member of said golf club carrier; and

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the complementary top clubholding memberthereof.

Referring to Figures 1 to 5., inclusive, the golf club carrier herein claimed comprises a top club holding member l0, a middle club` holding mem-l ber 2.0,. a, bottom club holding member 30, upright members 40 constituting the framework of the carrier, a positionable supporting stand andy theshoulder or carrying strap 60..

Top club holding member I0 comprises a horizontally disposed, rectangular plate ll Which may be made ofv wood or ofl metal or of any other` suitable material.. It has a pair of spaced` apertures t2 formed therein, on a center line running longitudinally thereof. apertures will hereinafter appear. Aiiixed to the side edges of. said plate is a plurality of spaced, horizontally aligned hooks i3, all of whichr open inl a common direction. A transverse slot` Hl` is! formed" adjacent one of the ends` of said plate. The functionr of. said slot willhereinafter be described..

Middle club holding member 20 comprisesak horizontally disposed, rectangular platey 2l of substantially thev same size and shape as plate- It has a pair of apertures Z2 of the same dimensions.v as

Ijl, and. made of the same material.

apertures I Zand correspondingly spaced and situated. Aixed to the, side edges of plate 2l is= the same number of hooks 23 as are aXed to plate Il'. Hooks 23y areof.' substantially thesame type, shapeV and'dimensions as hooks i3 and they are correspondinglyl spaced'. Like hooks |3 they all5 open in a common direction, but thedirec.-

'tion isr opposite that of hooks |132 Like hooks i3" they' are horizontally aligned. As will herein-` ater appeanhooks 23 do not register with hooks 13. l! isf formed adjacent one ofthe ends Of plate 21.

Bottom clubholding member 3l]` comprises a box- Slwhose length corresponds4 to the length of plates l l and 2l and Whose width exceedsthat of plates ill and 2+' toy a predetermined. extent, measured; by" the thickness of at least. two golf stick-s laid side by side: Box' 31 may be made of The purpose of these.-

A- transverse slot 24, corresponding. to slotl When the carrier as a whole is assembled, with hooks I3.

Situated within box 3|, directly below apertures 33 are rests or stops 34, said rests being uniformly staggered at different heights, each rest lying in a horizontal plane different from the planes of the other rests. As shown in Figure 2, these rests may consist of inverted L shaped members whose vertical portions are affixed to the insidewalls of box 3|.

Instead ofindividual staggered rests or stops a` continual strip may be placed in the box 30 at an 'angle to engage the bottoms of the clubs.

An opening 35 is formed in one of the sides of box 3| and a sliding door 36 is slidably affixed to said box to close said opening, The purpose of the rests 34 and the opening and door 35 and 36 will shortly appear.

Four short'legs 3l are affixed to the bottom of box 3|, one at each corner thereof.

Upright members 4|) comprise a pair of elongated rods M whose diameter corresponds to the diameter of apertures I2, 22 and 32. These upright members constitute the vertical framework of the golf club carrier, which is assembled as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The rods may be made of metal or of wood and they may be of solid or hollow construction. The rods 4| are inserted into said apertures and plate I I is afxed to the top of said rods, plate 2| is ainxed to the middle of said rods, and box 3| is aixed to the bottom of said rods. It is thus that the plates and box are maintained in xed spaced relation.

When the golf club carrier is assembled, only hooks I3 register with apertures 33. Hooks 23 do not register either with hooks I3 or with apertures 33. When the butt or handle end 42 of a golf club 43 is inserted into box 3| by way of one of the apertures 33, the shank 44 of said golf clubwill engage the corresponding hook |3 readily enough but not the corresponding hook 23. To engage the latter as well as the former, the golf club must be bent slightly in the middle, as shown in Figure 1, in the direction of said latterhook 23. The spring tension of the golf club resulting from the bending thereof will tend to Vmaintain said club in pressure engagement with said hooks I3 and 23 and with said aperture 33. As shown in Figure 1 the tendency of the shank at hook |3 and of the handle at aperture 33 is to press and move to the left, and of the shank at hook 23 to press and move to the right, this tendency simply representing the inherent urge of the golf club to return to its normal, unbent condition. As shown in Figure 3, hook 3 is open to the right, and hook 23 to the left, thus preventing leftward movement of the shank at hook I3 and rightward movement thereof at hook 23. Aperture 33, being a circular aperture, also prevents leftward movement of the handle and of the golf club.

The staggered rests 33 serve as steps upon which the golf clubs rest or stand at staggered heights. The purpose is to render the golf clubs 4 conveniently available for quick selection and removal from the golf club carrier.

Box 3| serves as a golf ball holder or container, in addition to its function above indicated. Golf balls are inserted into and removed from, box 3| through opening 35. They are prevented from falling out of the box by means of sliding door 36.

Slots I3 and 24 in plates and 2| serve to engage shoulder or carrying strap 60 in the usual Way, and a handle 6| is likewise provided.

The entire structure stands on legs 31 when the same is not being carried. In addition to said legs, positionable supporting stand 50 is provided for the added stability of a broader base. Stand 5I! consists of a pair of pivoted arms 5| which pivot horizontally around vertical pivots 52, said pivots being aixed to the bottom of box 3|. The pivoted ends of arms 5| are provided with gear teeth l53 which are in mesh. Thus when one of the arms is swung around on its pivot, the other arm, being geared to .the4 rst arm, is caused to 'swing outward inthe opposite direction. The dotted representation 54 of said arms shows their position when in use as a base. The solid lines show their folded position when not in use as a base. It will be noted that arms 5| are provided'at their free ends With pads 55. The thickness of these pads equals the height or length of legs 3l.

In Figures 6 and 7 another embodiment of the invention, and specically of the plate members,.

is shown. These plates are made, preferably, of metal, stamped into the form shown in the drawing. Any other suitable material may be used such as plywood. Top plate I3 kis provided, at its side edges, with bayonet slots 'Il opening in a common direction. Middle plate '2 is provided at its side edges with bayonet slots I3 opening in the opposite direction. These bayonet slots perform the same function as the hooks I3 and 23 above described.

This invention is of the type that admits of considerable variation without departure from the principles of the invention. Thus, instead of L-shaped hooks I3 and 23, ?shaped hooks might be used. Instead of a pair lof upright members 40, a single, perhaps thicker and stronger upright member would serve the purpose.

Other variations, additions and subtractions are possible and are'herein contemplated.

I claim:V

1. A golf club carrier comprising a pair of vertically extending rods, a horizontally extending plate aflixed to the top of said rods, a second horizontally extending plate affixed to thev middle of said rods, and a horizontally extending box affixed to the bottom of said rods, the top plate having a set of spaced hooks aflixed to its side edges, saidihooks opening in a common direction, the second plate having a corresponding set of spaced hooks aixed to its side edges, said hooks opening in a common direction opposite the direction in which the top plate hooks open, the box having a corresponding set-of spaced apertures formed in its top Wall, only said top plate hooks being disposed to register in vertical alignment with said apertures, with the middle,

plate hooks beingl slightly displaced laterally from such registry, whereby theindividually supported shaft of a golf club is gripped irictionally by its supporting means.

' 2. A golf club carrier comprising -at least three longitudinally spaced members, a plurality of golf club engaging members on ,said spaced members, the engaging members on one of said spaced members being out of alignment with .the engaging members on the other two spaced members and facing in the opposite direction therefrom, said engaging members being thereby positioned to engage the golf clubs only when said clubs are bent out of true alignment, the degree of misalignment between said engaging members which are in alignment With each other and the engaging members which are out of alignment being such that When the golf clubs are bent out of true alignment into engagement With said engaging members, the spring tension inherent in said clubs and which normally urges them back into true alignment, is suiiicient to hold said clubs in tight contact with said engaging members thereby preventing accidental displacement of said clubs relative to said en gaging members.

3. A golf club carrier comprising a vertical frame, three longitudinally spaced horizontal members aflixed to said frame, golf club engaging members on all of said horizontal members, the engaging members on the top and bottom, horizontal members being in alignment respectively with each other and facing in a common direction, the engaging members on the ntermediate horizontal member being out of alignment respectively with the engaging members on the other two horizontal members and facing in the opposite direction therefrom, said en- .their accidental displacement therefrom.

GREGORY J. SPOHRER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Reach Mar. 6, 1928 Johnson May 6, 1902 May July 12, 1921 Malone Mar. 15, 1927 Parmater May 30, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date British July 21, 1932 Number Number 

